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Sun Princess

Maureen Smith

Age: 48

Occupation:Registered Nurse

Number of Cruises: 4

Cruise Line: Princess

Ship: Sun Princess

Sailing Date: November 21st, 2003

Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

This was our 4th cruise and
our 3rd with Princess. Our first and second cruise with Princess were
actually back-to-back 7-day cruises aboard the Grand Princess in
celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. We loved the elegant décor
and services Princess had to offer and decided to try one of their smaller
vessels for a 10 day cruise this time.

There were some minor
problems on our back-to-back cruises, namely Princess’ failure to deliver
some of the on-board gifts our family had ordered for us as well as
Princess’ forgetting to acknowledge our 25th anniversary day. They usually
send a small complimentary gift of some kind and decorate your cabin door
with balloons and congratulatory messages.

When we discovered these
omissions after returning home, we contacted Princess and were told that
the gifts were ordered too late to be processed in time for sailing (all
of the gifts were ordered at the same time and paid for and we did receive
half of them) and they made no comment about forgetting to acknowledge our
anniversary.

When booking the Sun
Princess, we again contacted them to see if Princess would agree to some
sort of token gesture, but did not hear back from them until after we
returned home despite more than 3 conversations and 2 faxes being sent
prior to sailing. However, on with this review. And be patient, I love to
give details.

Getting There:
We arranged our own airfare because one’s arranged through Princess
usually involve a stopover. This way, we could fly direct to Ft.
Lauderdale, and we went a day early to be able to relax and have no
worries about flight delays causing problems on the day of embarkation.
Many Ft. Lauderdale area hotels will provide pick up from the airport to
their hotel and to the port the following morning free of charge and that
is what we did. If you take a taxi, it costs about $12 U.S. from the
airport to the port, so don’t book transfers through Princess because they
charge way more.

The customs area in Ft.
Lauderdale airport was crazy, small and inadequate. As well, the senior
officer thought she was instructing people in the army or something and
was quite rude and abrasive. The line-up was long and very slow until
another flight arrived. She started yelling at passengers to move faster
and these poor seniors are struggling with walkers and carry-on luggage.
Not a nice welcome to the USA. Preference was given to US citizens and the
rest of us were treated badly as far as I was concerned.

The departure area is
equally crowded and the lineup long and slow again. In fact, they had to
go through the line and check on people’s flight times and putting those
ahead whose flights were departing soon.

Embarkation:
There was a slight delay when we arrived at the cruise terminal. Hotel
staff told us that Princess was having an earlier check-in time than
normal, but they had a bit of a snag and didn’t open the terminal doors
until the usual 12 noon. However, once the line started moving, we were
checked in and on-board within 20 minutes. Be sure to get a Bahamas
visitors card (they hand them out while you are in line) and fill it out
prior to going to the check-in wicket. This speeds up the process and
avoids delays for those waiting in line behind you.

Cabin:
We had previously had a balcony on the Grand Princess (splurged for the
anniversary) and this time decided to try an inside because the deal was
too good to pass up. We should have passed it up and there were no
balconies available. We booked this cruise sort of last minute and felt
the extra price for just an outside cabin wasn’t justified. We will never
book an inside cabin again, but that is just a personal preference and
probably because we know how nice a balcony is. The cabin was so small
that with the beds pushed together, one side of the bed was against the
wall, so we had to separate the beds to provide a common space in between
to be able to get out of bed without performing acrobatics. As well, the
cabin we had on the Baja deck, squeaked and groaned when the ship was not
docked. It started as we left the port, and got significantly worse by the
4th night, so much so that it awakened me (admittedly I am a lighter
sleeper than my husband but even he found it very noisy) and I couldn’t
sleep at all. The sea was not particularly rough that night, so I am not
sure why it was so noisy but it was as if the panels on the walls were
shifting constantly and rubbing together. The ship was fully booked, but
at 4 am I finally gave up, got dressed, and went to the pursers desk to
voice my concerns. Luckily, there was another cabin available because
someone had to depart at the previous port due to a family emergency, and
the staff helped us move the following morning to the Aloha deck, inside
cabin. Why couldn’t they have had a balcony?? This cabin was quiet and
free from any noise, and although it had a slightly different layout, we
again had to request the beds to be separated. I have never heard anyone
have this problem with noise from the cabin walls and hope they have fixed
the problem so that others don’t suffer the same fate.

Otherwise, both cabins were
quiet in the sense that you didn’t hear people in the hallway or next
room.

Bathrobes are provided upon
request, as well shampoo and conditioner. Storage space is more than
adequate but a tip is to pack some extra hangers because they don’t
provide a lot in the room. There is a hairdryer at the vanity table but
only one electrical outlet in the entire room. No clock is provided, so
bring a small travel clock with you, although wake up calls are offered
when needed.

Food:
We have read cruise reviews claiming that Princess’ food is only mediocre.
However, we are not gourmets and found that the menu is varied enough that
you can always find something you like for dinner in the dining room. We
opted for Personal Choice Seating, and always agree to share a table with
others, which avoids delays. On two occasions, the dining room for
Personal Choice was quite busy and they quickly took us upstairs to the
other dining room, which was for traditional seating because it had tables
available. Same menu, and it avoided long waits.

We never have breakfast in
the dining room because we prefer a buffet style. There was a wide
selection to chose from and we never had trouble getting a table in the
Horizon Court. We often ordered room service for a cold breakfast on the
balcony when we were on the Grand, and missed this opportunity on this
cruise. It just isn’t the same eating in a windowless room.

We usually used Horizon
Court for lunch as well and found the selections adequate. Outdoor grills
provide excellent beef and chicken burgers etc. and were tasty.

The usual complaint about
Princess remains in that they charge for “designer” ice-cream, available
out on the pool deck. However, we never felt the need to eat ice-cream in
addition to all of the other tons of food we consumed.

The Steak House is
reportedly excellent, but you must make reservations as we sadly
discovered too late. They do charge an extra fee to eat there, but it was
well worth it according to other passengers.

The Italian Pizzeria
provides good food too, at no extra charge. However, it is located in an
open walk through area, adjacent to the casino, so people are constantly
passing by as you eat.

They also had an Italian
sweets buffet in the Horizon Court one day, with delicious desserts.

Entertainment:
The entertainment was quite good for the most part. Only one show was not,
so we just left early. They offer the same show two nights running in the
show lounge and theatre, so if you can’t make it one night, there is
always a second chance. The juggler was by far one of the best I’ve seen.
And the magician act, which we had seen on the Grand as well, was equally
as enjoyable the second time around.

The lounge and the theatre
fill up quickly, so go at least 20-30 minutes prior to show time, order a
drink, and relax while you wait.

The pianist who put on an
almost nightly show in one of the open lounge/bar areas of the atrium was
quite a hit with the older passengers.

And the piano music
performed in the atrium during the day provides a very elegant background
on the ship.

The casino took our money,
more so after the first two days. The slots were really “tight”, but the
nickel ones were fun and seemed to pay out a little better. There is a
slots tournament you can enter as many times as you like for $20 each
turn. The highest winners go on to the final round and the prizes are set
for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

Activities:
Carnival has taken over Princess and it is starting to show in some subtle
changes, which were noticed more so by passengers who had sailed Princess
numerous times. They were grumbling a lot about the absence of a lot of
the free activities such as the scavenger hunt. But what was available,
such as trivia games were fun and a great way to meet other passengers.

We went to one karaoke
night, but we must not have been blessed with talented passengers because
in all honesty they were pathetic for the most part. But at least they
tried.

And don’t miss the
champagne waterfall in the atrium. It was loads of fun.

Bingo is offered, but again
is expensive at $10 per single card, or $20 for 3 cards, five games in
total each session, but fun to do a couple of times. We finally shared a
package of 3 cards to cut down on the cost.

The horse race sessions are
fun and not so expensive to participate in the betting. We don’t use the
Spa services and from the price list, look over priced compared to back
home.

Island night on deck is fun
with an outstanding buffet if you can stuff any more food into yourself.

Keeping in Touch with those back home:

We always e-mail our kids,
who are in their early 20’s but still living at home, to make sure
everything is okay. We could access the internet in their café by just
swiping our cruise card and the charge is about 50 cents per minute. There
are 5 computers for use, but sometimes some of them were so slow it was
impossible to get on-line. But there was always at least one that was
working well.

I also phoned ship-to-shore
a couple of times to contact my father who is elderly and lives on his
own. The cost is around $7 per minute, so keep your calls short if you use
this service.

Shore Excursions:
We have found on previous cruises that the cost of these excursions is not
justified unless there is no other way of participating in a certain
activity. We did take a snorkeling tour in St. Thomas, which was quite
nice. Otherwise, we went to the crew staff and asked for advice on the
best beaches, shopping etc. Grab a taxi at each pier and negotiate the
price before getting in. It is always cheaper than the organized tours.

They do conduct information
sessions about each port, and you can also view them on the TV in your
cabin as they replay them many times.

Ladies, be sure to get your
free pair of diamond stud earrings at some of the ports. Just ask the
staff on board.

Laundry Facilities:
On the Grand, they charged for self service washers and dryers, and there
were 4 of each on each stateroom deck. However, on the Sun Princess, there
were only 2 on each deck, but they were free!!

There is also use of a
single ironing board and iron. Plan your time to do any necessary laundry
and ironing because there often was lineups later in the afternoon with
everyone returned from shore and getting ready for dinner.

Cruise staff:
The cruise director was noticeably absent throughout the entire cruise. We
were into our 5th day before we laid eyes on him and then only saw him
once or twice after that. The assistant director seemed to be doing his
job for him.

Out on deck:
We found that deck chairs were not as hard to find this time, but we are
not sun worshippers, so we weren’t trying for ones in direct sunlight. The
pools are seldom filled to capacity, so swimming is enjoyable.

One of the nicest places to
lounge is on the promenade deck, especially later in the afternoon/evening
to watch the sunset. However, it can be windy at times, so hold onto your
hat!!

Disemarkation:
At St. Thomas, you have to go to one of the main dining rooms on the day
you port there to have a US Customs clearance since 9-11. The lineup was
long, but moved fairly quickly and took about 30 minutes. You must go
whether you’re planning to get off the ship or not.

Final disembarkation went
smoothly, with passengers called according to the luggage tag colour you
are given and they do give first preference to those who have flight
departing prior to 11 am.

In Summary:
Did we have a good cruise? How could we not? Cruising is definitely the
ultimate relaxation type of vacation and I can’t imagine why any cruise
would be not being enjoyable.

Would we sail Princess
again? In the future, probably yes, unless Carnival makes drastic changes.
However, we would prefer to try a different line the next time just for a
change. Also, we are very disappointed with Princess’ response to the
concerns we did raise on the Grand, with a letter waiting for us on our
return that basically said in a nice way, “tough luck if you didn’t like
our response, we felt it was adequate”. What would it have taken for them
to give us a couple of free drinks or something and to apologize for
ignoring our 25th? I think that Princess has a large number of repeat
customers, so perhaps they don’t try as hard as they should to insure your
future business.